The nature of social networking means that using it carries a degree of risk including becoming a target for cyber-criminals, but there are tips to keep you safe on-line.

• Avoid publishing any identifying information about yourself - such as phone numbers, your address or birthday - that could be used by criminals.
• Make it difficult for anyone wanting to hack your accounts by using strong passwords with symbols and numbers.
• Be on your guard against phishing scams, including fake friend requests and posts from individuals or companies inviting you to visit other pages or sites. If you do get caught up in a scam, make sure you remove any corresponding likes and app permissions from your account.
• Ensure you have effective and updated antivirus/antispyware software and firewall running before you go online.

What is phishing?

Phishing emails are fraudulent emails that look as if they're from your bank, and try to collect your online login details by getting you to log in to a fraudulent website.

Look out for:

• Informal wording that’s not in the style you would expect from a legitimate company
• Poor grammar and spelling
• A request to confirm or verify your account, or enter your account details, password or PIN
• Emails claiming to have an ‘Important message for you - click here’
• Emails that claim your account has been compromised or if you don’t respond within a certain timescale your account will be closed
• Emails that start ‘Dear customer’ or ‘Valued customer’
• Emails that ask you to click a link to get access to your account.

I received a suspicious email, how could the sender obtain my e-mail address?

Your e-mail address might have been obtained from another website which collected these details from you online and passed the information to the sender. Most reputable websites will tell you if they do this and will give you the option to refuse permission to pass on these details. Sainsbury's Money will never pass your e-mail address onto any other company or individual.

How do I stop receiving fraudulent e-mails?

Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) or email provider may offer a service that will allow you to mark e-mails as 'spam' so that you don't receive them in the future. Contact them to ask about this service.

What is telephone fraud and vishing?

Telephone fraud, also known as vishing, are often unsolicited phone calls from criminals which encourage you to divulge your bank security details we send to activate digital wallet, mobile banking app and to verify your account activity and payments.

Criminals may pretend to be from Sainsburys Money, the police or other trusted organisations such as telecommunication, broadband and computer companies.

Criminals will call mobile phones or landlines pretending to be from your bank in order to get your personal information or ask you to move money from your personal bank account.

They may have some of your personal information such as name, address, or phone number, to make them seem genuine.

These calls will often seem urgent to get you to act as quickly as possible, giving you minimal time to think about whether the call is fraudulent. The atmosphere and background noises can help the calls seem more convincing.

Sometimes you may get a 'warm up' call where no information is discussed. This is to set the scene for a later call where you may be asked for information.

Keep your computer security up to date to stay safe from Trojans, viruses and other online risks.

Operating system and browser

Keep them up to date — newer versions have higher levels of internal security.

Anti-Virus Software

Keep your anti-virus software up to date — new viruses can appear daily. Look for software that combines anti-virus, firewall and anti-spyware. Here are some popular providers:

• Zone Alarm

• Symantec

• McAfee

• Microsoft

Spyware

Spyware is software can collect personal information about you, track the websites you visit or change the configuration of your computer.

Some spyware simply displays advertising such as pop-up windows, while more malicious versions can record what you key in, to try to intercept your passwords or credit card numbers.

Downloading games, pictures, screensavers etc. from dubious sites can cause spyware to be installed onto your computer. Certain pop-ups that appear when visiting websites can also install spyware.

These tips can help you stop spyware from infecting your computer:

• Download and install anti-spyware software such as Microsoft's free anti-spyware program, Windows Defender
• Keep your computer software up to date
• Only download and install programs from websites you trust
• Read security information, privacy statements and licence agreements when you install downloaded software.
• Don’t click 'OK' or 'I Agree' on pop-up windows unless you know what you’re agreeing to

Spam and how to avoid it

Sainsbury's Money will never pass your email address to another company or individual. To minimise the amount of spam you receive, don’t:

• Put your email address on a newsgroup, message board or personal webpage
• Signing up for a email newsletter or web service that doesn’t let you opt out of sharing your email address with others

Trojans give criminals unauthorised access to your computer so that they can record your online activities. They may record your personal login details by:

• Recording the keys you press on your keyboard
• Copying images displayed on your screen, including online application forms

If you're asked to login via a format that looks different to our standard login page (e.g. a pop-up window or a dialogue box), that could be a Trojan.

A virus is a computer program that can replicate itself and spread from one computer to another. A virus can infect and damage your computer.

What to look out for

Email is a common way for viruses to spread, so be careful when you open emails from unfamiliar senders.

If you use social networking sites, make sure you're careful about the information that you post on there (for example, you shouldn't give your full address or date of birth). Be wary of accepting friend requests or joining groups when you're not certain you know who has invited you. This can be a way that criminals infect your computer with a virus or Trojan.

The best way to protect your computer from viruses is to keep your anti-virus software up to date.

Customers who hold certain email accounts (for example, Yahoo, Rocket and Ymail email accounts) who have not logged into those email accounts for a prolonged period (for Yahoo, Rocket or Ymail email accounts, this period is 12 months) could have their email addresses recycled by their provider. If any account you hold with us is registered under an email address that is recycled, emails from us regarding your Sainsbury's Money account could potentially be seen by unknown third parties.

If you no longer actively use the email address under which your Sainsbury's Money account is registered, please update your registered details to reflect the email address currently used by you. If you continue to use your registered email account, please ensure that you visit the email account with sufficient regularity to avoid it being recycled. We recommend that you check with your email account provider for specific details of their email recycling policy.

We use the latest security measures to keep your money and personal information safe.

Our online servicing system includes:

Secure sign in
Only gives you access once you enter your login details.

Secured Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates
Your Proof that we are who we say we are and that your information is encrypted to prevent others reading it — look for the yellow padlock at the bottom of your browser.

Firewall protection
Prevents unauthorised access from third parties and safeguards your account information in our systems.

Time-out facility
Automatically logs you out if you’re inactive for 10 minutes.